Dark Blade
Alfred Mancuso's 'partner' Biographical Information Short Form: Dark Blade Full Name: The Dark Blade (which would seem to imply that he is the only one of him) Age: Unknown (but implied that he was around during the crusades) Sex: Functionally asexual, but still referred to as a 'he', but for unknown reasons Nationality: More than likely not native to the mortal plane Physical Description Dark Blade actually has more than one form and it is not entirely clear if any of them are his true form or whether his true form has yet to be seen: The Theoretical Past Form - a sword of some sort likely with a blade that is closer to black in tint than the silverish gleam of a regular sword. This form has yet to be actually seen and can only be inferred from it's name. Traditional form - a black revolver, with runes that can glow and therefore become visible whenever Dark Blade wants them to do so. The runes are the 'writing' of the pact between Dark Blade and whoever holds him. Rolex/Stealth form - this form basically makes Dark Blade look like an old fashion Rolex watch. The pain form - this is the form Dark Blade takes when something has just caused him to feel some sort of pain. An example would be when he is made to consume something that is wholly unnatural or with a corrupted soul. In this form he retains his vaguely handgun like shape but takes on a grotesque appearance. The Dark Alfred form - This form is what happens to Dark Blade and Alfred when Dark Blade completely seizes control of Alfred and dominates their partnership. Alfred's arm and Dark Blade basically merge rendering the combined limb into a sort of arm cannon fusion of metal and living flesh. Oddly despite no longer resembling a revolver, this form retains the limits on how much it can discharge based on the number of bullets that are remaining in the cylinder. Abilities Source of extra-normal abilities: '''The fact that Dark Blade is an artifact of demonic nature and thus inherently magical '''Abilities: * Form a pact with whoever takes possession of it (currently he is in a pact with Alfred who will be henceforth simply referred to by name) * Has a very strong will of his own and is arguably the dominant one in the relationship * Self-maintaining AKA Doesn't need to be cleaned or oiled * Seize control of Alfred or at-least try to do so. * He is in-complete control of himself, if he does not want to discharge what is currently loaded into the chamber then he won't (see weaknesses for more details) * Communicate directly into the mind of Alfred * Bestow certain skills and knowledge to Alfred ** Marksmanship training ** Bullet-crafting ** Rune based enchantment of metal objects (IE bullets) to give them certain magical and arcane properties * Eats the soul of any living thing that it wounds or better yet (for Dark Blade) delivers the killing blow to. (see weaknesses for more details) * Can effectively judge people's sins and see into their souls to tell if they would be good to eat * Is in complete control of the power he grants to Alfred and can go so far as to leave Alfred effectively with an old revolver he does not have any skill using. * Is capable of protecting Alfred either by coating Alfred in a thick leather-like armored shell or by completely subsuming Alfred from the inside out and leaving him completely unaware of all pain. * Can heal Alfred but...at the cost of replacing any lost tissue with tissue that is more Dark Blade than it is Alfred Weaknesses (must have): * Dark Blade is functionally a parasite and is slowly consuming Alfred from the inside out. His form actually goes beyond just the visible part and includes tendrils protruding through Alfred's skin and running through his body. * Dark Blade could be physically separated from Alfred but it would be VERY hard to do and verging on the impossible without putting Alfred's life in danger ** The moment Alfred is no longer in contact with Dark Blade but someone else is in contact with Dark Blade, Dark Blade's pact with Alfred would be broken and a new pact formed (regardless of Dark Blade's will) with the new host * Without a partner he is completely immobile and functionally powerless * All of Alfred's powers come from him ** It takes energy to fuel those powers and even to maintain each form other than that of an old revolver ** Dark Blade gets his energy from consuming souls, but only the souls of the wicked are truly worth consuming * Dark Blade has no choice about consuming souls and can become effectively sick or rather nauseated from consuming the souls of the corrupt or the righteous/innocent. ** He compares consuming a corrupted soul to the act of Alfred eating a piece of shit, in both cases they can derive energy and sustenance from it but also in both cases it is wholly undesirable to do so when there are alternatives. Details of his projectiles: * Dark Blade is capable of firing three general types of projectiles ** Regular bullets *** PRO: These projectiles can affect anything even something that isn't alive like shattering a window *** CON: The number of regular bullets he can fire is limited by the number of actual bullets he has left inside of him ** Enchanted Bullets - These are bullets that Alfred has enchanted and endowed with arcane and magical properties *** PRO: They can deliver more of an impact than regular bullets *** CON: They need to be prepared ahead of time and take time, focus, and resources to fashion ** Energy Projectiles - projectiles formed inside of Dark Blade out of the energy he has collected by consuming the souls of the wicked. *** PRO: Dark Blade is only limited by *** *** *** *** *** The number of physical, tangible projectiles Dark Blade can discharge is limited by the number of physical, tangible projectiles he has left inside of him. **** Which is not entirely accurate as Dark Blade can take Alfred's life force and use it to craft a projectile, but doing so accelerates the corruption that occurs whenever Dark Blade is actually used and while this might seem like a good thing for Dark Blade as it increases how easily he can seize control of Alfred it also burns Alfred's body out faster, shortening his life-span and making Dark Blade need to get a new 'partner' all that much sooner. * Dark Blade has taught Alfred how to enchant and otherwise endow metal objects (mainly bullets) with certain magical and arcane properties but that takes time, focus, and the right materials to do. * Alternatively Dark Blade can just shoot an energy projectile composed of energy he has 'Normal' Abilities: Being a gun, Dark Blade has a mechanism for initiating a chain reaction within the casing of a bullet that causes the bullet to be expelled out of the barrel in a functionally linear trajectory. Psychological Description Personality: * Arguably the dominant one in the partnership to the point of referring to Alfred as being Dark Blade's instrument or steed where the more traditional view would describe Dark Blade as being Alfred's instrument * Tends to view killing as the best way of dealing with a problem. * Claims to be on the side of righteousness and punishing those who are evil but takes a very wide definition of what is and is not 'evil' and therefore deserves to die. * His concern for Alfred seems to begin and end with how capable Alfred remains as partner. * Will actively fight and resist being separated from Alfred to the point of insisting that Alfred sleep with Dark Blade under his pillow and one hand still on Dark Blade, insists this is for Alfred's protection since Dark Blade does not sleep and is constantly aware of the surrounding and so could seize control of Alfred's body to cause Alfred to use Dark Blade to shoot anyone who tries to take advantage of the fact that Alfred is asleep and therefore vulnerable. Interests/Hobbies: * Watching the History Channel (particularly programs pertaining to the speculation concerning the dark ages, which he insists their portrayal of is laughably inaccurate) * Watching the gun-play centric movies (particularly ones that feature gun-kata) * Killing//Maiming/Wounding (though this is not exactly a hobby so much as a requirement as it is how he sustains himself) * Enjoys watching 'The Golden Girls' and refuses to explain why beyond vague references to Bea Arthur being 'the one that got away'. History: All Dark Blade will say about his past is: * He spent an undisclosed amount of time sealed away in a secret vault within another secret vault within a secret prison-like facility known only as Ward 2 * Was removed from the Ward 2, by #5 during the figurative collapse of Ward 2 * While he found #5 to be an almost ideal partner, when #5 began to get his memories back and discovered that he was not actually the psychotic, underhanded, do anything to survive asshole that he had been molded into during his time as a guard in Ward 2, but rather a father of two and an accountant, Dark Blade began to have conflicts with his partner. * Freely admits the fact that he indirectly caused the death of #5 by causing #5 to instigate a fight with some thugs and then refused to fire when #5 needed to fight back resulting in #5 being shot to death * Was later picked up by Alfred and instantly formed a pact with Alfred making Alfred his new partner.